


The little Asha’man

by Chaos_Ryder



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Fan Characters, Gen, Is this how you do this, Oh god, actually feel good about this one, the 4th age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23355097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_Ryder/pseuds/Chaos_Ryder
Summary: A story of a minor struggle between two of the victorious factions after the last battle.A sickly young man by the name of Dedyn Roshar is  given the chance to support his family and advance himself when two strange people come into the riverfront town of Jurene.An Aes Sedai of legend, and the modern marvel of a  Male channeler, an Asha’man.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Fourth Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in Kinslayer’s dagger. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

Westward the Wind blew, Descending from the arid mountains that jutted out defiantly from the Dragonwall, down past the river Alguenya and the grand city of Cairhien. It blew further across the dry countryside until it met the river Erinin. The Midsummer sun baked the land until dust settled as soon as fieldworkers and stablehands could clean it. Grass and sparse underbrush balanced on the edge of drying out in the weeks between the torrential summer rains. The people cleaning were content however, it had been a unprecedented time of peace, the victory of the Light over the shadow now a memory only a portion of channelers held firsthand, as well as the oiger who gossiped about the *recent* fulfillment of prophecy. 

The wind blew down into the Town of Jurene, a small town along the river Erinin that was a vital port of call For ships from tar valon and the borderlands to resupply and stretch legs before heading on to Aringil or Tear.

The wind blew clothes off of washing lines and stacks of logs on to the ground. The town that it came to sat squatly on the river; the majority of buildings not reaching two stories except for a scarce handful of inns, a few well-off shops, and the mayors house, which all stood tall over the more stout tiled rooves that were now the norm. Jurene had done well after the last battle, with the flurry of traffic along the Erinin both during and after, had made itself out to be a not so negligible hub of trade. Although it had not quite gotten big enough to be called a city in truth. The wind sank down and rattled tiles and jostled the people below.

Underneath the lip of a tile roof, Dedyn Roshar sat on a stool, inspecting the seam of a pair of pants with a keen focus. The young man, now old enough that he would no longer be mistaken as a child, was not so old that the scruff he cultivated on his chin could be called anything else. Thin, bony fingers set to work sewing the large tear in the pants closed with a practiced ease. 

The rest of him exuded an aura of frailty that mirrored his hands. He sat at a height with most men in Cairhien standing, although he was nowhere near the tallest man he had ever met. An aielman traveling in a patrol the town many years back had taken that distinction. Still, his rather daunting height only Served to emphasize his guant frame. He gave off a stark impression of sickness, as well as hints of the build he could have grown into without it.

Dedyn had resigned himself to the fact that he would never wear black. Best not to risk it. His friend Micel had said once that the only costume he needed for the feast of all souls was a black cloak and some flour. Unfortunately the wisdom had overheard that and micel was striped so bad he couldn’t sit down for a week. luckily the wisdom had assumed micel had been mocking him, which had saved him from similar treatment.

Taking a sip out of a large pewter cup, barely registering the sour taste of the herbs, he set about finishing the pants while absently thinking. That Tea was foul, but it was a small price to pay to be out of bed.

The rhythmic sound of the sewing needle threading through cloth washed over him as he stared out into the street. The packed dirt road was the reason for the thin layer of dust coating everything. There was a lot less dust the further into town you went, but that was only because the road turned into paving stones in the town square proper. For reasons he didn’t especially understand, the mayor had insisted that the town square must be the best looking part of the town. Dedyn figured that the mayor only said that because his house was gob smack in the middle of the town square.

Catching himself nodding off and almost falling from the stool, he sat back down to return to work when he heard a noise that got his attention, it sounded almost like a bird being strangled, if the bird was the size of a bull.

Whipping his head up, Dedyn looked out into the suddenly empty street, and saw what had made the noise. It was a large, pitch black, mantis. It was easily the size of a horse, and it rasped that chirping call so loudly it made Dedyn’s head vibrate.

It stood in the middle of the road fighting two other figures, a normally large dog, and an obscenely large cat. The cat and dog looked to be of a size with each other and looked to be locked in a standoff with the large mantis, although they gave each other almost as many wary looks as their foe. 

The grotesque mouth of the creature bubbled with foam as it reared back to prepare for a lunge at the two unprepared animals. Dedyn stood and opened his mouth, to scream at the insect, to warn the animals, he didn’t exactly know, but just then the enormous bug opened his mouth again to-

“Dedyn! Hey! Stop loafin’ off, we got something excitin’ for once!”

Dedyn’s head shot up, confused eyes darting in every direction. He looked back to the street and saw...nothing. Well he saw a few people and a woman on a horse, but no gigantic animals. He looked down and saw the pair of pants he was working on caught on the end of one of his boots, mostly unfinished. He sighed before looking up to see who had woken him.

It turned out to be a small girl, dark hair braided down both sides of her dirty face, eagerly smiling at him. Dedyn shook his head as he put on a smile for the kid. He couldn’t quite remember her name, it had been a while since Jurene was small enough for every resident to remember every other resident’s name. Although he did feel a pang of guilt that he couldn’t properly return a greeting.

“Hey...squirt. How’s it going? What are you bothering me fer?” Dedyn said, matching the child’s dialect on the last word. He smiled, he liked kids. He didn’t typically like having them wake him up yelling, but he let it slide on account that he technically should not have been asleep.

“We have some new people in town!”

“What, a band of aiel? Maybe a pirate?”

He Shook his head in exasperation, apparently one of the side effects of that foul broth the wisdom gave him was strange dreams. He had always had vivid dreams, but the ones lately had been especially odd.

Dedyn reached down to pick up his work and continue on what he was doing, he’d play along with the kid for a bit, before asking her what she was really here for. It was probably his mother or the wisdom sending someone to check in on him, make sure he was taking his medicine. They both had never really forgiven him for sneakily pouring out the concoction for a week as a small child. They had found out when he had passed out one day while playing with some friends, from hunger. On a full stomach. 

At that moment he learned how vital it was to keep drinking that absolutely foul tasting tea, it kept him from wasting away despite eating enough for two men. When he had the appetite at least.

He reached over and downed the tea, turning the cup upside down and looking up at the kid to tell her that he had in fact taken it, and that no he was not an idiot, when the kid looked up at him with hands on her hips and cheeks puffed out with a level of outrage that only a 6 year old could possibly muster.

“Don’t baby me! First, I don’t play pirates anymore. That was last week. Second, pirates are dumb anyway, i’m going to join one of the warrior societies in Cairhien, so there!“ She stuck her tongue out at him and promptly failed to produce a raspberry. A laugh from a passerby produced an eruption of red on the child’s face. With equal parts feigned confidence and embarrassment, she crossed her arms set her jaw as she kicked the dirt in frustration, managing to collect even more filth on herself.

Trying not to laugh, Dedyn relented. “Please forgive me oh powerful Cha’Faile maiden. Please let me hear your message.”

Smiling and seeming forgotten about being mad she jumped up and down in excitement. 

“Oh yeah! I forgot! There’s an Aes sedai in town!”

She then took off running back the way she came before turning around again a few paces up the road. Yelling back to Dedyn she continued. 

“Oh! And an Asha’man!”


	2. A sister and a mother

Annah Bayor detested children, they were loud and dirty and all together unpleasant. She had been a child long ago and was in no keen desire to be reminded of it. She supposed it was terribly in fashion within the White Tower to find a man or woman to settle down with and raise the little things. She didn’t see it. She supposed they could be cute, but they were very much less so running around an Inn yelling when she already had a headache.

Cool. Calm and serene. She was a rosebud, a flowering rosebud.

Annah let out a huff as she looked around the Common room she found herself. It had a rather well kept silk carpet draped along the north-side wall, a deep red with yellow inlay of talons that gave the illusion of large scaled claws reaching into the room. Moving her eyes to the south side of the inn she found the innkeep wearing a thoroughly pleased smile on her face as she saw the veritable crowd currently occupying her inn. Annah supposed opportunities to sell drinks were abundant when an Aes sedai and an Asha’man were staying at her inn. 

The Aes sedai clicked her tongue as her eyes subtly but quickly darted around looking for that insufferable lout. At the tsk, the person at the front of the line jumped and began wringing his hat as he simultaneously tried to present a pitiable smile and an uneasy gaze at the Aes sedai’s shawl.

Mouth twisting, she returned to the person in front of her. She adjusted the shawl to bring his concentration back to the matter at hand, red tassels swaying. The older gentleman at the front had been talking about something, she had heard the word ‘begging’ while she was reinspecting the common room. She supposed she should here him out more closely.

“U-uh, as i was saying Aes sedai ma’am. Well the beet harvest is gonna be a little low if this heat keeps up, and the only rain we get is from storms a couple weeks apart.” The man continued to try and wring every last bit of confidence he could out of that hat.

“Beets.”

“Uh, yes. So i was thinking if you could make it rain a bit...just a few days! And just a drizzle! It could really help us out.”

Cool and calm. Serene and still. A pond reflecting the moon. 

Annah almost hit the fool man. A *few* days, just a *drizzle*. Despite all the towers focus on ‘outreach’ people still had no idea that Aes sedai couldn’t just solve all their problems with a wave of their hands. In her experience all what that reaching out had done was encourage fools like this that every inconvenience could be solved with a wiggle of her fingers.

The man looked well off enough to endure a slightly lighter harvest than usual without going hungry. A fine feast-day hat and cloak, fine enough to have sold already if he was truly desperate. Annah smiled and looked the man in the eyes, her slightly greying brown hair framing smooth ageless features.

“I truly believe your fortune will turn before the year’s end without my assistance.”

Apparently the assurance that he would not become destitute from a single bad year was all he needed, the man smiled brightly and proceeded to bow and scrape as he and his group seemed to fade away to the bar to fetch a celebratory drink.

Annah sighed

The inkeeper laughed

Where *was* that fool man?

——————————————————————

Dedyn waved to the little girl as she joined her family waiting just outside the Bucking Bull. It was a rather nice inn in his estimation, sure maybe he had heard some complaints from sailors but he didn’t see it. For his naming day a couple years ago his mother had given him enough coin to get a room and a meal for a night. It was one of the best namedays he had ever had.

Scanning the crowd of people for the person of interest, he made his way into the inn and almost literally ran into who he was looking for.

“AH! Oh light Dedyn, don’t scare me like that.” Jesamyn Roshar was a woman of middle years, a single strand of grey hair streaking through mostly blonde curls. Normally soft-spoken she was extremely hard to get truly angry. But it happened, and even the wisdom wasn’t eager to confront her when Jesamyn snapped.

“Sorry captain, ran afoul of some bug-heads. Had to be escorted by a maiden or else I don’t know if i woulda made it.” He said it just loud enough to be heard over the ambient noise in the room. He heard a small giggle from just outside the inn in response.

Smiling, Dedyn looked down at his mother as she tried to keep a frown on her face. corners of her mouth twitching upwards while shaking her head, she wagged a finger under his nose in halfhearted disapproval.

“Be serious, we’re here to see what an Aes sedai can do for you. I’ve been practicing what to say for a while now so i just need you to be here so she can work her...stuff. And if she won’t see ya, i have a little suprise prepared for her!”

She set her jaw and began to clench and unclench, like she did when she was nervous or irritated. Dedyn did it too, but he was willing to bet she had been doing it longer.

“It’s ok mom, that tea the wisdom cooks up is fine. she’s the best for miles and if that’s what she says she can do for me it’s fine with me. you don’t have to...”

“I don’t like these fevers you’ve been getting.”

“Mother, it’s not a big deal i just felt under the weather a few times.”

“And then got so delirious you climbed up on the roof because you ‘wanted to sleep under the stars’?” He himself really didn’t know why he had done that, but if the wisdom was at her wit’s end with her teas, he didn’t want her to get her hopes up. Dedyn’s mouth opened and then clicked shut as she gave him a level look. He decided he wouldn’t risk being the target of her pent up frustration. 

The line moved forward a step and as everyone took a step forward, over the ambient noise he heard a distinct *clink-ca-clink* noise. Turning his head he saw for the first time his mother clutching a small pouch tightly to one side, hand shaking slightly.

Suddenly clicking in his head, tears rushed up to fill his eyes before he could blink them back down. Dedyn took a second to collect himself and said in a small voice. “She’s an Aes sedai. She’s not gonna take your money.”

Jesamyn Roshar set her jaw and clenched even harder than before. She answered in a voice Dedyn could hardly hear. “She’s gonna do something.”

Blinking, Dedyn turned around and started to walk back outside. “It’s hot in here, i’m gonna see if i can catch a breeze outside.”

“Alright, don’t push yourself dear.”

“You too ma.”

“I won’t.” His mother looked straight at the person in front of her like she could see the Aes sedai at the other end of the room and already wasn’t happy. He thought his mother might be the first person to ever *give* money to Aes sedai at point of threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter went a bit better than the last one. We have more characters! And they have names!
> 
> I think channeling your own experiences really helps with writing, i’ll let people guess what aspects i channel into what characters lol.
> 
> Welp I promise we’ll get into some actual action and plot progression next chapter. Maybe
> 
> Probably

**Author's Note:**

> This is really just to help stretch my writing muscles and to keep the boredom away as we’re all cooped up. Feel free to comment constructive criticism or what have you.
> 
> I’m gonna try to keep things lore consistent but uh, that’s gonna be hard. Anyway, I’ll probably update pretty frequently, since i have some more free time now.


End file.
